


Only In Your Dreams

by IAmASinner



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Dream walker, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings, M/M, Making Out, Mutual Pining, Pet Names, Rated M for now...gonna get spicy, Self-Esteem Issues, Sexual Tension, feelings everywhere, more tags as we go along, no beta reader we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2020-11-14 23:55:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20856665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmASinner/pseuds/IAmASinner
Summary: Badgerclops loots a cool amulet from one of the monsters trying to thrash the Pure Heart Kingdom. Little does he know that the amulet has peculiar powers that allow him to find interesting things about Mao Mao in very unorthodox ways.





	1. Chapter 1

“Badgerclops, why are you wearing that _thing_ to bed?”

“Cuz it’s my new good luck charm, Mao Mao Mao”, the cyborg answers sassily, pulling the chain around his neck taut to show off his hard won amulet. 

Mao Mao looks like he’s about to give a grumpy retort but instead rolls his eyes and crawls into his bottom bunk. Adorabat is already fast asleep, and Mao Mao isn’t far behind her. It was a pretty rough battle with the monster today that left all of them exhausted. 

Despite this, Badgerclops stays awake a while longer to doodle the battle they just had to commemorate it, as per his personal tradition. Between inking lines and erasing sketch marks, he occasionally looks at his new prize to draw inspiration from it. This goes on until he completes the finishing touches of his art. 

“That’s a good one for the battle record book, I’ve really outdone myself”, he hums to himself, adding his masterpiece to his growing collection. 

“Aight, this head needs some bed now”, he says to no one in particular as he puts his art supplies away and clicks his night light off. “G’night, my little good luck charm”, he kisses the amulet and then rolls over to go to sleep. 

As he dozes off the amulet starts to softly glow.

\--

“Whooooa, what?”

He woke up to see a landscape of fluttering shapes of every size and color moving about as if they were alive. He isn’t sure why, but something feels incredibly off here.

“Oh! Hiya Badgerclops!” 

He yelps girlishly and whips around to see Adorabat, or rather, some sort of supposed future version of her. She is much taller and bulked up, with a massive wing span and donning armor similar to Mao Mao. Around her waist in a belt similar to his own, filled with smoke bombs. 

“Heeey, whats up?”, he answers meekly, clearly weirded out.

He is about to ask how she got so tall when the ground rumbles under them. A cluster of shapes fly up into the air and start to fabricate the form of a dragon like some sort of quilted conglomerate. It roars and immediately bellows a jet of 'flames' made out of pixelated triangles in their direction. Adorabat isn’t fazed by the heat, but Badgerclops can feel the searing temperature even from here. He immediately starts to sweat profusely. 

“Whoa, _geez_ that’s hot! You don’t feel that?”, he shouts in panic when he sees Adorabat not reacting. 

“Oh that? That ain't nuthin. Watch this!”, she says confidently, holding out a wing to prevent him from moving any further. She immediately dispatches the ‘dragon’ with one swift slice of her wing as if it was made of blades. The creature shrieks before exploding into a weird aurora borealis of bugs. 

“See? Piece of cake~”

A huge slice of cake appears above them like a cloud and starts raining smaller slices on top of them. She picks one up and chomps into it. Badgerclops catches a slice too but it poofs as soon as he tries to bite into it. Aw. 

“Well, that was lame. Also. Am I like, in YOUR dream, or something?”, he says, putting two and two together. “Is this some sort of weird dreamception thing going on?”

“Well yeah! You’re almost always in my dreams. I think. YOU’RE kind of weird though. Usually you’re different in my dreams and you’re not as...uncontroll-y as usual”

“What do you mean by that?”, he crosses his arms defensively.

“I can’t make you do anything right now! It’s weird. Plus, you’re usually way BIGGER and stronger! And buffer too”, she says as she pokes his tummy. 

“You stop that”, he says sternly, smacking her wing away from him. She giggles. 

“Yeaah, so this is kind of freaky? Soooo I’mma bounce. Where’s the exit to this place so I can wake up or whatever?”, he says, looking around, only seeing the childishly (but creatively) shaped landscape.

“Hhmm, I don’t know. Maybe I can imagine an exit for you?”

She focuses really hard for a second and suddenly a swirling portal pops up out of a cloud of shapes. “There! That should do it!”

“Oh cool, thanks fam”, Badgerclops says as they do their unique parting fist bump. “See you in the morning! Or not. I seriously can’t tell if this is a weird dream inception or not, heh heh.”

“Later BeeCee!”, she sing songs, suddenly fading away as he steps through the door. 

He immediately realizes his mistake as soon as her portal closes when he starts to fall into an abyss. Naturally he starts to scream his head off, with no ground in sight. After a solid ten seconds of falling and flailing, he realizes something.

“WHOA. OKAY. Uhhhh, if this is the dream realm then I can control it too, right?”, he says, trying hard to think, but fails out of panic. “--GAAAH, HELP! ADORABAT? I THINK I’M STILL IN YOUR DREAM!?”

Suddenly he freezes and is suspended in midair, as if someone pressed a pause button on a movie.

“Did I do that, or..?”, he looks around and sees nothing but eternal darkness. 

“Hello?” Not even an echo. 

“Well, this blows and I’m bored now.”

He sits down on wherever ‘down’ is, crossing his arms and legs. “Oh wait, I’m not falling to my death anymore so I should be able to dream up anything! Heh heh, cool", he thinks hard for a moment, "How abooout my vintage playstation and a tray of banana cream pies!”

Nothing happens.

“Oh right, I gotta like, wish it or whatever, right?” 

He closes his eye and thinks, focusing on a tray of delicious, homemade pies to appear before him. But when he opens up, nothing is there.

“Uh...pretty please?” 

Still nothing. He scoffs. 

“What gives!?”, he yells into the abyss. “SO not cool, bro” 

Suddenly, another portal appears beside him. It looks different than Adorabat’s but when he looks around for any answer, he doesn’t get any. He gets up and dusts himself off. 

“Well, it’s not like I have anything else better to do”, he shrugs and peeks into it. It unceremoniously sucks him in, and spits him back out the other end. He gracelessly lands onto a very hard, very real ground.

“Why did I FEEL that--” He rubs his sore bottom from the impact. “Wait, why _did_ I feel that?” Out of curiosity he pinches himself, somehow surprised he can feel it like he did with the flames from the dragon. He stares down at himself, perplexed. 

He’s shortly startled out of his train of thought when he hears familiar laughter. He looks up to see someone basking in the love and respect of his family, namely his father. Also, the person in question is super buff.

“..Yup. This is definitely Mao’s Mao’s dream and I ain’t about to board this crazy train, nu-uh”, he says with a sassy head roll. He goes to turn to go back into the portal but it sucks itself out of existence instead.

“Uh. WOW. Rude much?”

“Badgerclops! It’s about time you showed up!”, Mao Mao says, spotting his friend.

He turns to see Mao Mao approaching, already reverted back to his not-as-buff-but-still-as-handsome form and his family nowhere in sight. The badger blinks owlishly, before raising an arm to awkwardly wave.

“Uh...Heeeey? What am I showing up for, exactly?”

"Just picking up where we left off.”

Before he can question anything, Mao Mao puts his hands on his chest and gently pushes him backwards. He jumps when he runs into something soft on the back of his legs and falls back into a very comfortable, plush bed. 

“Whoa, uh what, what’s going on--”

“You really don’t know?”, Mao Mao chuckles down at him.

“That didn’t answer my question?”

“It seems you’re playing coy tonight, Clops. It’s a surprisingly good look on you”, he answers while smiling flirtatiously, catching the badger off guard even more. 

He hops up onto Badgerclops to straddle his plump waist, unabashedly gazing down at him while intimately running his fingers through his chest fluff. The cyborg can’t help but freeze aside from blushing profusely at the rapt attention his very attractive friend is showering him with. It doesn’t help that his unwavering gaze is so full of love, appreciation, and lust that it’s making his heart hammer in his non-existent ribcage. He’d be in denial if he didn’t admit his partner is super hot, much less have genuine feelings for him since day one, but this is all hitting him like a run away freight train with missing brakes.

"Let's get a little more comfortable~"

Badgerclops watches, baffled, as Mao Mao suddenly wills most of his armor away at the flicker of a thought, and unclasps his beloved cape before making a show of throwing it into the dreamworld abyss like it means nothing. The badger gasps at the sight of his very naked friend, something he’s never seen the hero ever willingly do. He can’t help but let his eye rove all over the planes and curves of his friends well traveled body, the dreamlike lighting making it all the more boastful. Mao Mao notices this and raises an eyebrow before letting out a chuckle, albeit a confused one.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve seen me like this, Clops.”

"Really?”, he manages to squeak out, still frozen in place with shock. 

“Yes, many times in fact. Geez, why are you so..._you_ tonight?”, he rubs his chin, his eyes flicking all over his deputy's face in contemplation. Badgerclops can feel himself start to sweat until the cat shrugs it off, not pressing the issue. 

“Whatever. Maybe I shouldn’t have drunk that victory juice right before bed. Anyway, here. Let me help you get started.”

He gently takes both of Badgerclops hands which were both pinned to his sides in panic this whole time. The cat guides the metal one on a hip, which instinctively grabs hold. The other one he slowly puts onto his scarred belly, letting his body heat sink into the palm. The cyborgs organic claws twitch questionably, clearly not sure what to do. Thankfully Mao Mao takes the lead and guides his wrist upwards so his palm sensually travels up the hard expanse of his waist and chest, letting the claws gently rake through the smooth fur. 

They both revel in the warmth emanating from each others bodies until the hand reaches to a cheek. Mao Mao then places his paw on top of Badgerclops hand and entwines their fingers together as he holds the hand to his face. He closes his eyes and sighs blissfully, rubbing his cheek into it while occasionally placing a kiss into the palm before pressing it back onto his fur.

The badger, of course, is loving every moment of this. To see Mao Mao in such a raw state, emotionally and physically, is something he never thought he’d have the privilege to see, even in his dreams.

“What are you, a touch starved kitten?”, he jokes light heartedly. 

What he didn’t expect was Mao Mao freezing up, eyes wide, and a dark red blush spreading across his face like wildfire. He snaps his head away, a paw covering his mouth. Badgerclops is taken aback by this, gears churning in his head.

“Wait, uh...do you like being called kitten?”

Mao Mao stiffens, refusing to speak or look at him.

Armed with this newfound knowledge, Badgerclops feels emboldened. He lifts a claw to gently turn Mao Mao back to face him. 

“Hey..It’s okay, you don’t have to be ashamed,'' he whispers reassuringly, placing a quick peck on his cheek. He can feel his heart stuttering when those hauntingly beautiful eyes lock with his. 

“Besides, it’s really cute and fitting for you”, he lightly teases, but genuine with his words. 

“Can you stop being so..so YOU?”, Mao Mao huffs, burying himself into the warm scruff of Badgerclops neck.

“Naaaah, it’s what keeps you coming back for more”, he replies jokingly. 

“Yeah..That’s true. Almost every night.”, the sheriff says, smiling into the fluffy fur he’s come to love so much. Badgerclop's eye widens at this, trying to not let his head race at the implications.

Instead, he takes advantage of the new position by letting his claws travel up and down his friends body, wanting to feel every plane and curve presented to him but not daring enough to test boundaries. The longer this goes on, the more relaxed they both become, tension finally leaving their bodies. 

When he feels his co-hero start to lift his upper body up, his hands travel down to thick hips to accommodate. He looks up to see Mao Mao looking back down at him expectantly, but unsure. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just...Can I?”,Mao asks breathlessly.

“Can you what?”, he asks, lost.

Mao bites his bottom lip and his gaze flickers down to his lips, then back up to his working eye. The realization hits Badgerclops hard, his heart working overtime. He’s been wanting to make out and do so many things to Mao Mao over the years, it’s not even funny. And thus, his brain jumps off the deep end and his dick takes the helm in time to light his body on fire.

“Dude, you have NO idea how much I want you, you can do WHATEVER you want to me--”, he almost doesn't finish blurting out his confession when Mao Mao promptly grabs both sides of his jaw and swoops down for a kiss. It’s so deliberate, starving, and just so _Mao Mao_ that Badgerclops can’t help but melt into it and try to keep up. 

As they explore each other Badgerclops self indulgently raises his organic hand and gently rakes it up Mao Mao’s deliciously muscled back, mussing up the fur until he stops at the scruff of his neck. He starts to slowly card through the fur there, back and forth. He can feel the cat moan and buck into him, the small movement making his blood boil.

It doesn’t take long for things to become even more heated with Mao Mao brazenly grinding onto him. They finally part their kiss, a string of saliva between them evidence of their passion. The cyborg ends up rolling over them until he is on top, using his arms to lift himself up and stare down at his long time crush. They both pant as they gaze adoringly at each other, Mao Mao still holding Badgerclops head, tiny thumbs tracing his jaw. It doesn’t go unnoticed that Mao Mao splayed his trembling legs wide for him, obviously riled up and wanting more. The feline takes his organic hand and places it on his black chest, urging it to travel downwards.

Badgerclops gulps at this, but doesn’t dare stray from what Mao Mao has in mind. He can feel the fluttering heartbeat under his palm, hard proof that Mao is as anxious about this as he is. Steeling himself with adoration, he slowly continues the journey of his palm downwards, somehow never breaking eye contact.

The cyborg wants so bad to glance down and see all of Mao Mao in the most intimate ways, but no. He’s going to savor this moment. Something tells him that the build up for this is going to be more than worth it. Mao Mao’s trembling thighs are far apart, paws clutching the satin sheets around him, expressive eyes open and begging. The badger appreciates the warmth of the body beneath him, his palm sliding over fur until they hit a patch of scars he always adored, but rarely saw. He takes a moment to properly feel them, briefly contemplating the amount of training and fighting Mao had to go through all these years to be who he is today. Then he continues down agonizingly slowly, past the scars, past his abs. Almost there..

He halts his descent. 

Mao Mao immediately arches into the touch, desperate for him to go an inch--no, less than an inch--to finally have Badgerclops touch him where he always wanted to be touched by him. For Badgerclops to discover all of him. 

“Clops, it’s right there. Come on-”, he gasps, bucking his hips in a desperate attempt for that dangerous, massive hand to finally touch him in his most vulnerable area. _So close, so close, please--_

Badgerclops dares to lean down until his breath is hot and heavy in his ear.

“Then beg for it, _kitten_.”

\----

The cyborg jolts awake as if he was just kicked out of someone’s mind. He takes a moment to take in his surroundings, and see’s it’s still dark in the HQ. He hears someone scamper from the bunk beds and into the bathroom. Within seconds the shower is turned on.

Dazed, he looks at the internal clock in his robotic arm and sees he has only slept a couple of hours. He then notices a faint glow that doesn't belong to his robotic arm and looks down to see that it is coming from the amulet. The glow quickly fades away.

Huh...Weird.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Badgerclops learns what the amulet does, for better or for worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey uuuuuh so. I'm so sorry it took me so long to work on this chatper. I am not a very good writer and honestly have no idea what i am doing, but I will say that the kudos and comments i keep getting in my e-mail reminds me that i have a story to finish so please feel free to keep those coming to inspire me!!

Badgerclops wakes up the next morning feeling like someone took a vacuum to his soul; it’s unlike any hangover or head cold he’s ever had before. He groans in pain, putting immense effort into just sitting up and rubbing his throbbing temple. Memories of last night race back to his mind and he glances down at the amulet adorning his neck. It’s stone cold and dormant; not even a flicker of light. He stares at it skeptically but something delicious wafting through the air steals his attention instead. 

Groggily shuffling into the living room he finds Adorabat sitting quietly on the couch. Her eyes are glued to the weekend morning cartoons blasting on the television.

“Heyyyyo, mornin’, Adorabat.” he greets as enthusiastically as he can with an empty stomach and a head full of ache.

“Morning, Bee-Cee!”, she waves her free wing, the other occupied with an apple juice box. 

“How did you sleep last night?”, he manages to ask through a yawn followed by a wince. 

“I slept really good! I even woke up early enough to catch ALL the Saturday morning cartoons!”, she puffs out her chest with pride. He hums proudly in response, but the lingering sense that something is off clings to him. 

“Great!. So, uh, did you..Have any interesting dreams last night?”, he prods while nursing his temple.

She raises an eyebrow at this, but thinks for a moment. “Mmmm..Not that I can remember?..Are you okay?”

“Well, I-”

“There you are, Clops! Finally up and att’em?”, Mao Mao shouts from the kitchen, peeking from the door frame as he whisks something in a bowl. 

Badgerclops whips around to see the black cat flit around the kitchen to collect ingredients while humming to himself like he always does. The cyborgs heart instinctively starts to hammer from hearing that deep voice as steamy flashbacks from the dream flood all of his senses.

“I already started on breakfast for us”. Mao Mao unknowingly interjects as he sizzles something over the stove. “Wanna help?”

Badgerclops pauses. He glances back at Adorabat to see her rooting for her fictional hero in a fight scene, question forgotten. Other than Mao Mao being in a particularly good mood and the weird headache, nothing feels amiss. He shrugs the whole incident off his back like water. He’ll just take an advil or something.

“Sure, I’ll help out, dude. What’s on todays menu?”

\--

Badgerclops groans in pain as he crawls into his bunk for the day. It’s barely past lunchtime and he is already beyond exhausted somehow. He grumbles into his pillow to mourn how many snacks he won’t get to eat today, but figures it’s better to rest than to keep pushing so he can eat _even more snacks_ tomorrow.. At least Mao Mao and Adorabat put together a quick homemade soup for him to eat later before they left for todays patrol. 

“At least I don’t have to work today, I guess”, he whines weakly, turning over in his bunk to try and will himself to sleep. The amulet around his neck jostles and plops onto the pillow next to him. He sleepily picks it up to absent mindedly fiddle with the lifeless gem but lacking the energy to contemplate it. He feels sleep swiftly claim him, making his working eyelid feel like concrete.

Until he snaps it back open to find himself standing in the middle of the town center of the Pure Heart Kingdom on a peaceful afternoon. 

“Wait, when did I get here?”, he wonders out loud as he scratches the back of his head in confusion. “Am I sleepwalking on patrol again?”, he mutters to himself as he starts feeling his body for anything amiss. There are none of the aches and pains that made him bed ridden the last time he was conscious. 

“Hmm.. This isn’t adding up..”

He scans the area to see the Sweetie Pies going about their business as usual, with the wind fluttering through his whiskers and the sun warming his fur. Birds are chirping and farmer fights are going on in nearby alley. Everything is normal, except people aren’t being loudly threatened while getting fines slapped onto their foreheads. 

“Yo Mao Mao, where you at?...Adorabat?”, the badger asks over their shared comms. Not even the usual radio static answers him. 

“Okay guys, come on, this is starting to freak me out--Wait, what’s that smell?”, he becomes derailed when the most heavenly scent wafts through the air and seduces him.

“Sweeeet! Looks like Muffin’s bakery is open. I should swing by and get a dozen of -” It disappears under a massive hind hoof with a sickening _crunch_.

“-Or not.”

The badger looks up to see the hoof belonging to none other than a skyscraper sized Pinky, covered in god-knows-what and shooting laser beams out of his eyes. Badgerclops aloofly stands where he is as utter chaos erupts all around him. 

“What is with you and covering yourself in gross stuff, dude?”, the cyborg yells exasperatedly as if he is scolding his rambunctious child down the isle of a grocery store. “And how did you get so big anyway? Did you quote-_borrow_-unquote Camille’s locket, again?”, he says bending his claws for emphasis.

Pinky spots his naysayer amongst the calamity, and points a disgustingly slathered hoof at him.

“YOU! I DON’T HAVE TO TAKE CRAP FROM A LOWER LIFE FORM! ”, he bellows, “NOW BOW DOWN TO MY FINAL FORM OR FACE MY WRATH!”

Badgerclops crosses his arms as he raises his nose into the air dismissively. “Nah homie, you’re being super rude about it.”

Godzilla Pinky goes into a fit of rage and lifts his hind hoof up to menacingly hover it over the chief deputy, the shadow completely eclipsing him. 

The cyborg’s eye widens at this, lifting a claw in protest. “Wait, can we talk about this-”

\--

Badgerclops immediately sits up in his bunk, gasping and sweating bullets. He puts a hand to his forehand and one on his heart in an attempt to ground himself. Looking around he realizes that he is safely in his bunk back at HQ with the moon high and bright in the sky, but this offers little comfort. 

“That felt way too r-real, man”, he manages to choke out between desperate breaths.

A faint glow catches his attention and he looks down to see the fading light emanate from the amulet on his heaving chest. He takes it off and uses his eye UI overlay to analyze it more carefully before it grows dormant again. His programming doesn’t pick up anything peculiar, but Badgerclops knows better. 

‘You have something to do with all of this’, he glares intently at it, everything that happened within the last day reeling through his head. “And Im’ma find out-”

“Badgerclops, are you alright?”, a familiar face pops up from below, tired green eyes staring at him with concern. 

“WHOA, HEY MAO-”, he yelps. In a knee jerk reaction he shields the amulet from view with his claws.

Mao Mao shushes him and silently points to a certain bunk right below him. Thankfully the tiny bat is still fast asleep. 

“Sorry. And, uh. Y-Yeah..I’m good, man. Thanks.”

He stiffens when Mao Mao takes off a glove and places it on his friends forehead to gauge his temperature. Badgerclops wills himself to not think too much of the forbidden paw beans pressing into his fur, the same ones that lovingly caressed him in last nights lucid dream. He mentally notes that they feel even more pleasant in real life. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity to the badger, Mao Mao hums in doubt. 

“You sure you’re alright? You’re burning up, and seem to be having a cold sweat-”

“Really, Mao Mao. I’m fine. Just had a _really_ weird dream”, he interrupts truthfully, gently leaning away from the adorable paw before all of his blood strays south. “What are you doing still up anyway? It’s-uh’, he checks the clock on his robot arm UI, ”Ten PM!?”

“I’m still up at _ten PM_ because I am finishing up the reports from today’s patrol in the office. A lot happened while you were resting”, he informs with a glower. Badgerclops winces at this. 

“Oh, right..Good. Well, I’mma go back to sleep now since I totally need my rest and all--G’night!”

He immediately turns his back to his best friend and starts to snore the mother of all fake snores. He hears Mao Mao growl behind him, obviously unconvinced by the facade, but thankfully drops it. The feline jumps off the bunks and heads back into the next room to continue working. Badgerclops feels a pang of guilt at this, exhaustion being his only solace. 

It’s not only until Mao Mao starts clacking away on his laptop while muttering about a certain pink rhino napping on top of a produce stand after chugging a Nyquil smoothie does Badgerclops dare drop his facade. He brings the amulet face-to-face, realization slowly flooding him. 

“Wait, so if Pinky was sleeping during the day, and just by chance I was also dreaming about Pinky at the same time...”

He analyzes the amulet by formulating various hypotheses from the stream of codes his robotic eye provides. Thoughts racing and gears turning he starts to formulate a plan. It isn’t until later on when the overworked sheriff comes crashing onto the bottom bunk and starts snoring that Badgerclops finally decides on something. 

‘Time to test my theory out. Don’t fail me now, buddy.’

He kisses the amulet good luck before placing it back around his neck. He relaxes and falls asleep with nothing but determination on his mind.

\---

Badgerclops looks around the black abyss expectantly. It doesn’t take long to spot pans of empty cobbler pans everywhere.

_Bingo._

He follows the literal crumb trail to come across none other than the cobbler gobbler himself, Mao Mao. 

“Bawgerclawpsss?”, the culprit attempts to say through a mouthful of dessert when he sees his friend approach. 

“The one and only, baby.”

The cat doesn’t spare the cobbler another thought by frisbeeing it into the abyss. He saunters over with a toothy smirk on his maw while locking Badgerclops with the most intense bedroom eyes that no A list porn actor could ever compare.

The cyborg lands on his back with a soft ‘oof’ when Mao Mao pounces him, loose rose petals fluttering around him in his wake. Badgerclops can feel himself blush from the overwhelming romantic overtones. 

“Hey, Clops~”

“H-hey Mao”, he squeaks, failing to match the sheriffs bravado. 

When the cat leans down to nuzzle their noses together, Badgerclops can practically feel his heart melt.

“Why are you so adorable, dude? Not fair”, he huffs almost indignantly.

“I could ask you the same thing”, Mao Mao shoots back, looking down at his friend with stars in his eyes. Badgerclops can’t help but feel really self-conscious at this, unprepared for being on the receiving end of such _a look_ from someone so gorgeous. It’s so overwhelming and enthralling, and yet a part of him tells him he doesn’t deserve it.

In a desperate attempt to save face, the badger pulls Mao Mao closer, closer than reality will ever afford him. He feels the cat tense against him, but soon instead cuddles into the expanse of soft neck presented to him.

“You’re so clingy tonight..”, the sheriff says with a disarming chuckle. 

“Not my fault you’re so huggable”, Badgerclops pouts. “And you’re the perfect hug size, might I add. Plus you’re super soft, dude”,he emphasizes this by petting his muscled back under the cape.

“I’m not the one who is a walking furnace. You’re warmer than an afternoon sunbeam. Comfy too.”, Mao Mao retorts, turning himself to his side to curl up, his head still snuggled into the crook of the badgers neck. 

“Well, I mean, probably cuz I’m really fat-”

Badgerclops clicks his jaw shut as soon as those words escape him. He reflexively steels himself for an inevitable, criticizing quip.

“I love it.”

“Huh?”

“I said, I love it.”, Mao Mao reaches a hand down to his belly and lazily rakes his fingers through the fur there so there is no ambiguity in his words.

The cyborg lays there, stunned, as the sheriff continues to happily use him as a pillow. His words replay through Badgerclop’s head a hundred times over, making his heart hammer for different reasons. But elation quickly turns to doubt as entrenched self-deprecation grounds him. He may have come a long way to become the fat, sassy babe that he is but he still fears that talking about it will dredge old pain up. So many agonizing years of being a chubby pup didn’t do his self-esteem any favors and it took decades to build up even a semblance of self acceptance. And yet, despite his meager progression, doubt still prevails.

“..Why?”, comes a strained whisper. 

Mao Mao senses heartache in his tone and immediately pries himself from the heavenly plush neck to look down at his friend. 

“What do you mean _why_?”, he quietly asks in disbelief, as his eyes search for an answer in Badgerclops’ working one. “You’re my co-hero, chief deputy, and best friend. What’s there not to love, buddy?”

“But what about when we first met? When I was buff and stuff?”, Badgerclops blurts out, panicked. Mao Mao is visibly taken back at this. 

“What about it..?”

“Wouldn’t you prefer something like that over _this_\--”, he doesn’t get to finish when he feels a lone finger shush him. 

“I love you whatever way you are, Clops”, the cat says as he removes his hand to instead gently wipe away a tear that was threatening to spill from his best friends eye. 

“Besides, I don’t care as long as you’re happy with yourself” , he answers honestly and openly with a shrug “And, you know, still able defeat monsters in the name of justice by my side.” 

Dumbfounded, Badgerclops stares up at the man above him, not a single muscle budging. Then, came the waterworks. He slaps his hands over his face as emotion flows out of him like his tears. To have someone like Mao openly admit something like that really feels so overwhelming in the best of ways, something he was never prepared for. 

“Whoa, man! I didn’t mean to make you cry--”, Mao Mao manages to yelp before two, massive arms gather him up into the warmest hug he has ever been in. He can feel Badgerclops sitting up and shaking against him, tears plipping down around him.

“S-Sorry dude, but I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that”, he says with a sniffle, using the heel of his hand to wipe his tears away. 

“Clops, I tell you I appreciate you all the time”, the confused man in his arms says in alarm.

“Y-yeah but..That was different. Just kinda hit deep, you know?”, he confesses, refusing to look the cat in the eye. 

Mao Mao stiffens at this, but nods. He then silently resigns to his fate as a living plushie until the cyborg has his fill. At one point the bigger of the two lays back down, with the cat perched peacefully on top. 

“Thanks, by the way”, Badgerclops whispers eventually, breaking the comfortable silence between them. Mao Mao cracks open a green eye.

“For what?”

“For, you know, saying those things”, he answers, absent mindedly petting the sheriff's back. 

“Of course, buddy. I just wish I had figured it out sooner..”, Mao Mao quietly confesses. “You just don’t seem the type to be so down about yourself with something like your weight..?”

Badgerclops doesn’t immediately answer, claws gently rifling through black fur in thought. Truth be told, there aren’t many things he isn’t down about himself for. In fact, he can count the things he genuinely likes about himself on one paw on a _good_ day. It’s part of the reason why he hates getting criticized by anyone for even the smallest of things because he already does it to himself enough. 

“It’s not your fault, dude. I just hide it really, really well. It’s a force of habit at this point.”, he finally lets it out, a heavy sigh accompanying it as he stares up into the blank dream realm abyss above them. He can feel the cat almost curl up on himself. 

“Force of habit?”, Mao Mao says in the tiniest tone the badger has ever heard of him, “Badgerclops, I’m so sorry you feel the need to hide any of your pain like that. You deserve to feel good about yourself all the time, e-especially around Adorabat and I.”

The cyborg feels guilt tug on his heart at this, and can already feel tears threaten to spill once again. It’s true that the three of them have come a long way since the day Mao Mao rescued him from the fire, but some things are just so deeply internalized that Badgerclops himself isn’t even sure how to approach it from any angle.

Instead, he habitually crushes down those thoughts in favor of scooping the man up in his arms and hold him close so he doesn’t witness the miasma of raw emotion again so soon. 

“Don’t worry dude, just… just don’t worry about it, okay?”, the badger painstakingly says into the neck of his best friend, each word a lie that lances into his heart. The cat senses this and fights against him, obviously trying to gain space to be able to talk to him face-to-face. Out of panic Badgerclops holds on even tighter, not ready to confront that part of himself just yet. 

“Clops--Please!”, Mao Mao struggles in the increasingly tight grip around him, “Of course I am going to worry about this, I didn’t realize you were hurting so much-”

“NO!”

The cat ceases his struggling out of shock.

“N-no?”

“..No.”

When Badgerclops refuses to articulate, he swears he can hear the gears churning in Mao Mao’s head. But then, nothing. No struggling, no exchange of words, not even a breath between them. Just the two, silent men holding each other in the dream world abyss for an unknown span of time. 

Finally, Badgerclops feels Mao Mao gently push against his chest. He allows this, as there is now an unspoken rule put in place between them. The need for words are unnecessary anyway, as an apology gleams in Mao Mao’s eyes as he looks up at his best friend pleadingly. The cyborgs heartbeat flutters, both in anxiety and guilt, not able to voice that the cat has nothing to apologize for without breaking the floodgates. 

Delicately, Mao Mao places his hands on those chubby cheeks, framing them like a treasured keepsake. The intimate touch triggers some sort of trance, as the cyborg can’t help himself but to lean down until their foreheads touch to gaze longingly at the love of his life; a crush he has undeniably nurtured since that fateful day he was rescued from the flames by the travelling hero.

But the weight of everything feels so different than the last dream they shared together. He knows he is in a dream now, where everything is a fabricated illusion. He isn’t even sure if everything Mao Mao says and does here counts, or if they are just garbled thoughts that were hastily sewn together like a typical dream would be. And yet everything feels so organic to him. Or maybe he is just tricking himself into believing that the man he is holding really is an echo of the man sleeping two bunks below him in the waking realm. His heart aches at this. 

“I-I love you, Mao Mao”, he wistfully confesses barely above a whisper, “I loved you since the day we met”

The object of his affections pauses, but then beams, “I love you too, Clops”, he answers in a similar tone, eyes shining with unshed tears. 

Badgerclops claims his friend in a tender kiss. There is nothing rushed or starving about it this time around, just gentle exploration of each other without the veil of arousal clouding them. A level of intimacy neither of them are familiar with, but never once did either battle for dominance, frantically lash tongues, or rush to get to a metaphorical finish line. 

Almost everything is perfect. 

\-------

Unlike the other dreams Badgerclops has been in, this one had by far the most gentle dismount. He rouses in time to hear Mao Mao and Adorabat sluggishly make their way to the dojo for their early morning stretch routine. Bagderclops attempts to sit up but quickly learns that his body is blanketed in a strong ache with a wave of fatigue that feels like a ton of bricks on top of him. He creakily lays himself down just as something catches the corner of his eye. He watches the glow of the amulet fade into dullness, a triumphant but tired smile splitting his muzzle. 

He fondly holds the artifact close to his heart, thanking the universe for aligning just right for him for once as he falls into a deep, dreamless slumber. 

\--

An hour later Mao Mao and Adorabat were setting up the table for breakfast when Badgerclops comes into the kitchen, smiling and humming. He foregoes the table and straight to the cupboards to rummage through them. Mao Mao and Adorabat stare at him, equally shocked. It isn’t until the cyborg finally plops himself down at the table to sip his latte with a triple shot of expresso topped by a tower of whipped cream does Mao Mao clear his throat.

“Feeling better, I take it?”, the cat speaks up, puzzled by the contrary of the state of his friend was in a mere twelve hours before.

“Hm?--Oh yeah yeah, loads better, dude! Guess I just needed a long nap or something?”, he answers rather cheerfully, blowing off the steam of his caffeine concoction. 

While his friend is undoubtedly much more functional, Mao Mao can’t help but notice that his appearance is somehow even worse for wear than yesterday. A large ring made his lower eyelid its home while his fur is ruffled up in awkward places.Then Mao Mao’s eyes warily trail down to the amulet still adorning his chief deputy’s neck. 

“How come you seem so happy, Badgerclops?”, Adorabat asks innocuously as she haphazardly dumps bug flakes onto her porridge. “Did you have a really good dream or something during your long nap?”

“-Wha?”, the cyborg answers gracefully, setting down his latte. His thoughts come to a screeching halt as if he was just caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I mean, nah, of course not. Dreaming? Who does that?”, he adds hastily, comprehension catching up to him. He distracts himself by shoveling as much porridge as he can down his throat. 

“Oh--OH! Did you finally beat that one super duper hard level on Jail Cells and Wyverns?”, Adorabat asks excitedly, confidently slapping down a wing onto the table. 

“Nah, sorry homie. I’m still looking for an online guide for that”, he says through a mouthful.

“Then why are you so happy this morning? You were really sick last night.”

The cyborg visibly tightens up at this, his arms death gripping the edges of the second hand table and his poor spoon as sweat rolls down his temple. “I--uh”, is all he can manage to squeak out as he inwardly chants to himself to not lose his cool. This raises concern from a certain sheriff. 

“Are you sure you’re better? You should probably go see Camille, _as crazy as she is_”, Mao Mao coughs the last part into his fist. “Adorabat and I will cover your shift for you.” 

Before anyone else can say anything, the cyborg gets up so fast he almost topples his chair over.

“Yeah, yeah, I probably should--Listen, my arm got some kinks in it so I should prooobably go fix that-SEE YA”, he rattles off in one breath before abandoning his half eaten porridge on the table to go scamper off to the garage. 

Adorabat looks up at an equally confused Mao Mao. “Didn’t we help him fix it the day before he got sick?” 

\--

Badgerclops pries open the mini fridge in his workshop to sweep an armful of nearly expired energy drinks from the far back.

“Reminder to me to buy more caffeine in bulk “, he mutters into the recording mic of his robotic arm as he slumps down onto his workbench to chug the drinks down. He gags at the manufactured taste but manages to keep them down long enough to take the edge off of his fatigue. 

He sighs heavily and gets out a multi-tool to poke around his recently inspected robotic parts to find anything to get his mind off of things. He doesn’t want to face the fact that he knows what he is doing is wrong, and should get rid of the amulet.

But the real Mao Mao would never allow him to do anything like they did in their dreams. The confessions, the steamy moments, and the validation are all things he craves so much from his best friend and has easily become addicted to. He knows he is taking advantage of this but he knows he doesn’t have the strength to fight. Or rather, he just doesn’t want to fight it. _What Mao Mao doesn’t know won’t hurt him._


End file.
